Graphene quantum dots (GQDs), which are atomically-thin and nanometer-wide planar carbon structures, are the most recent addition to the nanocarbon materials family. These emerging 0D materials promise a wide range of novel applications. In contrast to zero-gap 2D graphene sheets, 0D GQDs fluoresce due to quantum confinement induced bandgap opening. Also as compared to 2D graphene sheets, 0D GQDs are high dispersible; have larger fraction of edge sites; and can be more drastically tuned in chemiophysical properties through conjugation with various chemical groups, doping with heteroatoms, hybridization with other functional nanomaterials. In this presentation, we demonstrate strategies to engineering GQD bandgap, application of GQDs for bioimaging, sensing and catalysis. Various methods to synthesize and modify GQDs will be described in conjunction with the application examples.

Short biography

After receiving bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Zhejiang University (China), Dr Peng Chen completed his doctorate in electrical engineering with research focus on electrophysiology at University of Missouri - Columbia in 2002. Then he did his post-doctoral training in Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University where he conducted research on nanopore based single-molecule sensing and rapid DNA sequencing. In 2005, Dr. Chen joined Division of Bioengineering at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) as an assistant professor. He is now a full professor of bioengineering in school of chemical & biomedical engineering. Dr. Chen’s group works on nanomaterials (particularly graphene materials) and their applications. He has published ~200 papers in reputable journals such as Advanced Materials, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, Physical Review Letters, Advanced Functional Materials, Small, Biosensors & Bioelectronics, Chemical Society Reviews, etc., which have received >12000 citation counts according to Web of Science. He is Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry and editorial board member of several journals.